{"id":581771,"date":"2023-07-07T19:48:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-07T16:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/bench-trial-set-for-two-oath-keepers-an-ex-actor-and-ex-marine\/"},"modified":"2023-07-07T19:48:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-07T16:48:00","slug":"bench-trial-set-for-two-oath-keepers-an-ex-actor-and-ex-marine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bench-trial-set-for-two-oath-keepers-an-ex-actor-and-ex-marine\/","title":{"rendered":"#Bench trial set for two Oath Keepers, an ex-actor and ex-Marine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/07\/AP21333728971663-e1688748399835.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>An ex-Broadway actor and an ex-Marine \u2014 both members of the right-wing militia Oath Keepers \u2014 will\u00a0face\u00a0trial\u00a0for their alleged roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>James Beeks and Donovan Crowl waived their right to a trial by jury, instead opting for a stipulated <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/bench_trial\">bench trial<\/a> starting Monday before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, according to court filings. A third co-defendant, former Oath Keepers\u00a0lawyer Kellye SoRelle, was determined to be <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.246841\/gov.uscourts.dcd.246841.36.0.pdf\">mentally incompetent to stand trial<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Carmen Hernandez, Crowl\u2019s attorney, told The Hill that the men will be tried on two felony counts: conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and civil disorder. Three other felony counts plus a misdemeanor would be dismissed at the end of the proceedings.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Because Beeks and Crowl declined a jury trial in favor of a stipulated bench trial \u2014 which requires agreement between the defendants and the Justice Department on certain facts \u2014 they could argue that a sentence reduction is warranted for acceptance of guilt if convicted. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department and Oath Keepers\u2019s defense attorneys were still discussing which evidence would be stipulated as of Thursday, according to Hernandez.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Both defendants are accused of\u00a0joining with other Oath Keepers in military-style \u201cstack\u201d formations to enter the Capitol. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors say Beeks stood out from other Oath Keepers on Jan. 6, donning a Michael Jackson \u201cBAD\u201d world tour jacket instead of the camouflage paramilitary gear other members of the group wore that day. The Florida native was an actor and Michael Jackson impersonator, described on his <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a> page as \u201cone of the Top Michael Jackson Tribute artists in the US,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-dc\/press-release\/file\/1451311\/download\">according to the Justice Department<\/a>. He was\u00a0playing Judas in a national tour of the musical \u201cJesus Christ Superstar\u201d before his arrest in connection with the riot. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Once inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, Beeks tried to push through a line of law enforcement officers guarding the hallway leading to the Senate chamber, according to court filings. He is representing himself at trial. \u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Crowl came to Washington in January 2021 with the Ohio State Regular Militia, a dues-paying subset of the Oath Keepers, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/case-multi-defendant\/file\/1361066\/download\">according to court documents<\/a>. That group was led by Jessica Watkins, an Oath Keepers leader tried for seditious conspiracy last year alongside the group\u2019s founder, Stewart Rhodes. Watkins was acquitted of sedition but convicted of several other serious felonies and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors claim that Crowl and Watkins \u201cequipped themselves for battle\u201d Jan. 6, wearing reinforced vests, camouflage helmets and goggles. Crowl filmed himself inside the Capitol saying, \u201cWe took on the Capitol! We overran the Capitol!\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/23868253-crowl-et-al-superseding-indictment\">according to court filings<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A former U.S. Marine, Crowl was one of the first rioters identified after giving an <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk\/a-former-marine-stormed-the-capitol-as-part-of-a-far-right-militia\">interview to The New Yorker<\/a> days after Jan. 6, where he confirmed he entered the Capitol. He also said he was in Washington to \u201cdo security\u201d for unnamed \u201cVIPs,\u201d an argument made by several other Oath Keepers during their trials. \u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The pair is the fourth set of Oath Keepers to stand trial for charges linked to the Capitol riot. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Six of the nine Oath Keepers tried for seditious conspiracy for their roles in plotting to stop the certification of the 2020 election have been convicted, including Rhodes, the group\u2019s leader. Other members of the group have been convicted of additional serious felonies. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mehta, the judge overseeing the Oath Keepers cases linked to the riot, sentenced Rhodes to 18 years in prison in May. Prosecutors described Rhodes as the \u201corchestrator of this conspiracy and the architect of the plan\u201d during his trial last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>More than 1,000 rioters from across the country have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, according to the Justice Department\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-dc\/30-months-jan-6-attack-capitol\">most recent count<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/4085487-bench-trial-set-for-two-oath-keepers-an-ex-actor-and-ex-marine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An ex-Broadway actor and an ex-Marine \u2014 both members of the right-wing militia Oath Keepers \u2014 will\u00a0face\u00a0trial\u00a0for their alleged roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.\u00a0\u00a0 James Beeks and Donovan Crowl waived their right to a trial by jury, instead opting for a stipulated bench trial starting Monday before U.S. District Judge&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":581772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/07\/AP21333728971663-e1688748399835.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[137385,134417,117,134353,134661,134447,124783,144339,134644,136433,136435],"class_list":["post-581771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-amit-mehta","tag-blog-briefing-room","tag-business","tag-court-battles","tag-energy-environment","tag-energy-and-environment","tag-international","tag-james-beeks","tag-jan-6-capitol-riot","tag-oath-keepers","tag-stewart-rhodes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}